The BCCI selection committee have named KL Rahul the captain of the Indian cricket team for the upcoming ODI series against South Africa. Rohit Sharma, who recently got the ODI captaincy, is not available for the series due to a hamstring injury.
India's pacer Jasprit Bumrah will take the vice-captaincy role for the ODI series. There were some strong contenders for the role, like Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, who have led their IPL team, but the selectors went ahead with Bumrah.
Former India chief selector MSK Prasad feels it was an easy decision for the selectors. He sees it as a reward for the speedster as Bumrah is doing well in all formats.
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"Jasprit is a very sensible young man with a lot of rationality. So why not reward him? I like this decision as to why can't we make a fast bowler captain If he is doing well in all formats?" Prasad told news agency PTI.
"Unless you give him an opportunity to be a part of the leadership group, you won't know what to expect of Jasprit. But having said that, I would also say that possibly since it was a decision on vice-captaincy for one series, it was an easy call. Had it been for captaincy with both Rohit and Rahul unavailable, it could have been different," Prasad added.
Although Iyer and Pant have led Delhi Capitals to playoffs in IPL, Prasad believes leading the national team is very different. "In IPL, a team might have four to five guaranteed superstars with different drifts and pulls. Then you need to manage at least a couple of domestic players, who may or may not withstand the pressures of franchise cricket," he said.
"In the Indian team, you have at least 12-13 top-class talented fellows, who know their exact roles at the biggest stage. Captaining India is at times easier," he added.
Prasad also pointed out that Iyer is returning from a shoulder injury, while Pant is struggling with consistency. Iyer wasn't part of the Indian cricket team since the ODI series against England, and he got picked after the T20 World Cup 2021 for the series at home against New Zealand.
"I think it's got a lot to do with the fact that Iyer is now coming in after surgery and also Pant needs to be a bit more consistent in the white-ball format.
"Also this my assumption that since till 2023, Rohit will remain the captain and KL will be his deputy, making Pant or Iyer vice-captain now means that you give them an idea that they are in leadership mix which might not be the case," he further said.
(With PTI Inputs)
